It became obvious that the Pirates wanted to send Quinn Priester to the Arizona Fall League, after seeing how they handled his return to the mound from an oblique injury.
The 2019 first rounder has made three starts so far for the Surprise Saguaros, his latest coming on Saturday. John Dreker has done has done a great job chronicling the day-to-day of the Arizona Fall League and all the prospects from the Pirates’ system who have been involved. While I do plan on a more in depth feature once everything is all said and done, a couple things have stuck out in the first three outings for Priester.
— He’s been hit really hard, at least in terms of exit velocity. Of the 38 batted ball events that have occurred with Priester on the mound, eight of them have had an EV of at least 100 mph (21%). There has been a lot of runs going around in the AFL this year, so this has been the case of a lot of pitchers, and only one of those eight 100+ mph EV batted balls came in his latest outing.
— It’s been two big innings that has done Priester over his last two starts. In his last 10 innings pitched over his previous two starts, the righty has put up a zero in eight of them. He allowed four runs in the second on Saturday, while allowing a pair in the fourth the week before. The ERA, if you want to look at that kind of thing after 14 innings, isn’t pretty, but the damage has been isolated.
— According to Baseball Savant, Priester threw 31 sinkers on Saturday, by far his most popular pitch of the night. I like that for Priester, as the sinker seems to be by far the better pitch between that and his four-seam fastball. He didn’t get many swings and misses with it (two whiffs on 16 swings), but he did get eight out ‘events’ with the pitch (Savant doesn’t track if it was a double play or not). That means the sinker accounted for over half of the outs recorded on the day for Priester.
— Again, I’ll get more in depth with it as there is more information available, but, analytically through three starts, there may be an argument to be made that the slider is the best pitch Priester is throwing right now. The moment is better on the curve, but the slider is what is getting the chases and outs.
— The biggest fine-tuning that he could do is get more of a velocity difference between his sinker and changeup. The two pitches are near identical in velocity at this point, and the moment is even more similar. Really the only thing you can tell them apart by right now is the spin rate.
Highlight of the Day
Atrás la boooola 👋🏻 ¡HOMERUN de Liover Peguero y bajan dos para los @Gigantes_Cibao! 🐎🔥#LIDOM #CopaBanreservas ⚾🏆 pic.twitter.com/b4NKWE8fR6
— LIDOM (@LIDOMRD) October 16, 2022
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Anthony began writing over 10 years ago, starting a personal blog to cover the 2011 MLB draft, where the Pirates selected first overall. After bouncing around many websites covering hockey, he refocused his attention to baseball, his first love when it comes to sports. He eventually found himself here at Pirates Prospects in late 2021, where he covers the team’s four full season minor league affiliates.
Is he another Keller trying to find out what works? I hope for the best but anticipate the worst.
Vamos, Gigantes, vamos!
Looking at Peguero he reminds me of Jean Segura. I’d think we’d all be happy if he can come close to that comp.
I think anyone would be crazy if they didn’t take that.
Not all two-seam fastballs are sinkers. So what does Priester actually throw? And can someone help me extract useful info from Baseball Savant?
That is true, I’ve heard it called both before, and it’s listed as a sinker on Baseball Savant but thinking about it I don’t think they have a ‘two-seam’ designation on that site.
So Savant is tricky, you have to be careful what info to grab from there and how to use it. I think some people get too caught up in exit velocity, and it really isn’t the end all, be all. If the tools are used properly it can really help.
I like seeing the exit velocity and launch angles in Bradenton because the players are just starting, so you have to figure they are going to get stronger, so if they are already posting strong EV numbers that’s a good sign.
On the pitching side, I really look at movement for the most part. Is the fastball flat, or does it jump around? Savant also tracks swings and misses, so you can see how often the pitcher is missing bats. There’s really a lot involved but those are the basics I look for. I log and track as much as I can so I have as much info as possible.
Maybe there’s an article in all that down the road on what exactly I look for and how I use each metric?
I liken Preister to Keller. Both had little trouble in the minors. I think keeping them strong and healthy is the most important thing. Several of the pitchers that Keller was compared to during his maturation (Kopech, Alex Reyes, etc) had serious injuries that Keller avoided (knock on wood).
Keller’s 2022 was a big success. The next 3+ years could be even better. Priester is just starting the 6.5+ year journey. Let’s start by keeping him healthy.
A voice of optimism. We need more of them. Thank you. As an incorrigible optimist, I must warn you that I am usually wrong, but cheerful.
I feel like I was you up until the last couple years. BC’s indifference towards building a MLB roster has caused me to become a certified Hater. I just want him to try as best he can this winter with the limited resources he has at his disposal. I don’t think that’s asking too much.
Obviously, it’d be nice if he was mowing down lineups in probably the best competition he’s ever faced, but the biggest thing is just getting some reps in and working on things.
Peguero looking like. he’s recently added a lot of muscle
Obviously they play different positions but he reminds me of Marte. I wouldn’t mind if spent some time with Starling to pick his brain on conditioning. Marte is a freak & has stayed extremely healthy still to this day.